Nekoru Mei
"With my firm hand, I shall trace the path of my masterpiece" - Nekoru Mei, All Values Are Hollow - chpt. 8 Nekoru Mei, also known as Gaka-san (Painter Boy) or 'Mei-san ,' i'''s Xantospoc's most used Bleach OC, currently a minor character as a mentor in the Bleach: Hybrid Theory and main character of Xantospoc's' ''All Values Are Hollow , currently on hiatus. Nekoru is an archetypical underdog, low on reiatsu even though if skilled in most areas, which forces him to use wits and comboes to match his enemies and keep the fight of a standstill Appearance A youth in his early 20s at best, Nekoru is average built with an atheltic phisique suited to shinigami and its harship. Not heavily standing out in a crowd, the green haired young man has, however three traits which, if inspected closely, might draw an observer attention: first of all, a scar close to his cheek, a bit faded, given to him by a foot soldier of the Vandereich. and a few cuts all over his hands. usually his Shinigami outfit is a bit dirty of ink due to constantly being around it and his attempt to master shikai. Another trait is the fact that usually his hair is very messy and therefore uses a pony tail to keep them in check (his best attempt to keep them in order miserably failed). Overall, still, Nekoru looks like a delicate soul with a big dignity, only being servile around his superior but otherwise not an actual burdern Personality Nekoru is an artist, specifically a painter, who usually makes commission for higher ranking shinigami. He is also known to be open-minded when it comes to art, except for body art (see below), but his personal favorite one comes from the ancient Japan he grew up in Nekoru has been in his previous life a butler, therefore he knows how to respect his superiors, acts generally, and sometimes excessively, polite (especially towards captains) and does his best to serve the Soul Society and its inhabitant, working hard to achive his (rather modest) goals, and always trying to do it with zeal and energy. It also helped him finishing the Academy in just five years instead of the regular six, despite possing an average intelligence. He'd be more than willing to be a paperwork slave for his captain, if needed, and also tries his best to be a well rounded shinigami, avoiding to specialize in any style in particular. Lastly, Nekoru is stoically patient, ready to endure everything for his goal. The young shinigami has always been fascinanted by the Gotei 13, and finally managing to join (even through reccomandation letters, hard working), and admires a lot his superiors, especially captains, wishing one day to have their powers Despite this, Nekoru is not inexperienced as a shinigami, having fought, even if in lesser roles, both as veterans, and usually ends up making rashful decision or to overthink a strategy, being unable to be a quick thinker in battles and in life in general He is also a bit of a loner, due to his great focus over work and job, which leaves him with very little time for social event. Last time he went to a party was 63 years ago. One of the most peculiar aspects of Nekoru's personality is his traumatic fear of captains, due to the traumatic experience of being nearly chocked to death by his Zaraki Kenpachi's aura during a fight with a Adjuchas, he greatly fears (to a paranoid level) his superiors , and wants to do as much as possible to avoid their wrath, going so far to adress them usually by 'Rank Name-sama" . This said, he's a bit of a coward when it comes to face them, to voice his opinion especially when diverging from them, and even have a friendly spar/training with them. This is also due to his low reserves of reiatsu compared to the Gotei 13 powerhouses. He is almost allergic to captain reiatsu, acting a bit dizzy when he feels it (even though the reiatsu is heavily suppressed) While when it comes to paperwork he can be very collected, Nekoru can go in a frenzy when fighting. Being a perfectionist to a borderline OCD level, he can also overdo things, becoming clumsy and dim-witted. This might be manifested occasionally in a bit of self pity as well, but due to the japanese concept of dignity he is not one who wants to show it As just said, the young shinigami is a great believer in a the japanese concept of dignity , which occasionally led him in having the mindset of an old man. He is getting better, though Background Nekoru Mei used to be the butler of the Kanagori family, an influential rich family of Japan. His most important task was to babysit the Kanagori children, a task he took wholeheartedly. One of things they asked him the most was to draw for them. They asked him the oddest thing around (from panoramas to dragons). But he appreciated it and really adored the children and the whole Kanagori family, to a wider extention. So much he did not notice he died. His obsession to take care of them was so great he turned into a Demi Hollow, but a shinigami found him and purified his soul. At first living as a civilian and making drawings for a living, he got a lucky shot when he drew a criminal for a shinigami officer. The shinigami, amused by his skills and his higher-than-average reiatsu, convinced him to move to the Seretei. Curiously enough, one day Mayuri asked him for a drawing whose description shall not be depicted as it was so freakish even a few hollows got scared away. Unfortunately, apparently this was all a ploy by the then Vice-President of the Shinigami Institute to be able to lure him alone in a place so he could experiment on someone without anyone else caring. As Mayuri was about to start by cutting Nekoru's hands (apparently feminine and skilled enough the future captain of the Twelfth division wanted to give them to Nemu) he was saved by one of the kindest and most trustworthy lieutenants of the time: Sosuke Aizen. The kind man finally asked the painted a commision (the most accurate map possible of the entire Sereitei)... in exchange, of all things, Nekoru was given the chance to join the Shinigami Academy, much to his own surprise. While at first he felt unsure wheter to accept, Aizen convinced him with the idea of powers and heroic feats he could do if he ever became a skilled Shinigami, making the civilian accept with enthusiam and unknowingly becoming one of Aizen's possible pawns, although ended up discarded for a far more effective and exploitable one with Hinamori. He completed the 6 years course in 5 (with the exception of the last exam), and, as a reward, he went into an inspection with one of the Captains. Unfortunately for him, said captain was Zaraki Kenpachi. There they found a rather tenacious Adjuchas, and the psycho, to defeat him, rose his reiatsu to such an high level he made Nekoru pass out, seriously traumatizing him, which made his own zanpakuto refuse to speak to him. Since then, he has been forced to study harder to learn shikai, to no avail so far, and he's been working as an assistant (plus freelance painter) for a living. During the invasion of the Ryoka, Nekoru ended up 'fighting' Kurosaki Ichigo, who while rushing to save the girl punched him across a building to unconsciouness, not even noticing the fly he had just swapped. At the discovery of Aizen being the true mastermind, Nekoru ended up in a slight depressed phase, which heavily ended up forcing to understand more of himself and his fears. As he understood this, he started being able to get more in tune with his zanpakuto, and, at the prospect of the possiblily he might have ended up against the rogue captain, convinced his zanpakuto to work together, managing to discover both its name and its command release. While he was a minor fighter in both conflicts of Soul Society, Nekoru had personal achievements, considering his lower than average reitasu, such as managing to take down with some strategy five Menos Grande (overshadowed by how every captain and lieutenant took them out by the dozens), and managing to survive to the first attack of the Vander-reich, forcing a troop soldier to retreat. During the second conflict, he got a few scars and nearly killed himself, but in the end took down an arrancar using Quincy Powers as well, but after that, he was pretty much unable to fight. Worn out by these two conflicts, Nekoru has since then decided to settle down and enjoy a more relaxing time in the academy and train the hyrbrids. He is deeply regretting this, as, due to his lack of raw power, he end up being more tossed around than anything, usually needing Ari to bail him out. ''PSYCHOPATHS! PSYCHOPATHS! THEY. ALL. ARE. A. BUNCH. OF. PSYCHOPATHS. - Nekoru doesn't hold an high opinion about the hybrids Trivia * Nekoru Mei's favorite style of drawing is the style used during Edo Japan, and hates modern art, finding it too subversive * Ironically, while he trusted very little every captain, he ended up trusting the worst of them all, Sosuke Aizen. * The fact Nekoru called Girin 'monster' really flattered his RPer, Lone Wolf King * Nekoru shares with Mendocera as a theme Ranbu No Melody , Bleach's thirteenth opening by SID